What is TMJ and what are some options for relief?

     

 

What is TMJ and how can we help?

     Pain in your face and jaw can be excruciating, and it’s even worse when you don’t know what’s causing it. For many of us, facial pain is related to the temporomandibular joint. It’s the hinge-like joint that connects your upper and lower jaw bones. Anytime this joint isn’t working properly, it could mean you’re having symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMD. This complex joint is a series of muscles, ligaments, discs, and bones that move your jaw forward, backward, and side to side. When anything goes wrong in your jaw joint, you can experience pain and trouble moving your jaw. To understand TMJ and what treatment you’ll need, it helps to know what symptoms to look for. 

  Symptoms of TMD

If you’re experiencing any of the following, you may be dealing with a temporomandibular joint disorder:

• Pain or tenderness in your jaw joint
• Pain in your neck or shoulders
• Tired feeling or pain in your face
• Swelling on the side of your face
• Pain in or around your ear
• Pain while chewing or an uncomfortable bite
• Toothaches
• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Hearing problems or ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
• Locked jaw, which makes it difficult to open or close your mouth
• Clicking or grating sensation when opening and closing your mouth

      Here at the office of Dr. Lee Palmer DDS, symptoms of TMD will be a thing of the past! Dr. Palmer starts with an evaluation. Where he can proceed with a series of non-invasive testing and treatment including:  

• K7 Evaluation - is our initial step in assessing our patients for neuromuscular problems. It includes EMG testing of the patients muscle activity and tracking of patients jaw movements. We use the K7 during the entire treatment allowing us to find the patients optimal bite position.
• EMG Testing - a diagnostic procedure to assess the activity of muscles and the nerve cells that control them.
• Jaw Tracking - We place a small magnet on lower front teeth. This allows for our sensor array to give a very detailed scan of how the patients jaw moves when performing certain tasks.  
• 3D Xray when necessary 
• Iontophoresis - which is a type of electrical stimulation that is used to administer medication into your body through your skin
• Microcurrent Therapy  - which is a way to relieve pain using very low levels of electrical current
• Sonography - allows us to hear the sounds the patients joints make when opening and closing 
• TENS unit -  we use these to bring the patients muscles to a relaxed state and reset your muscle memory
• Custom Orthotic - We create a patients custom orthotic that will keep the bite in its optimal position without having to have a permanent or invasive treatment done. 

    These tests allow him to better diagnose and devise a treatment plan catered to every individual and their exact sources of pain or discomfort. Once diagnosed, Dr. Palmer can revise a treatment plan best suited to each individual and begin treatment. 

    If you have any of these symptoms or have any questions about the treatment we at Dr. Lee Palmer DDS can provide, please give us a call. We will be happy to help put a smile back on your face! 

Phone: 615-794-0756

Address: 143 4th Avenue North

Franklin, TN 37064